I have a few T20 pieces across my characters, usually by the time I’m mid-80’s I’ll have one or two items at T19-20 and the rest around T14-16. T20 is supposed to be the goal, but realistically you don’t need most items that high unless you despirately need every single affix at max. Some pieces are harder to do than others, depending on the rarity of the affixes you’re using, too, because it takes MANY tries to get there.
At that point, where I have all my gear at a “serviceable” level, I’ll be gambling/hunting for items with at least 3 of the affixes I’m looking for at T3 or higher. I’ve gotten lucky on my current character, for instance, and found a bronze belt with T5 set nec/pois and T5 set phys/void, so all I had to craft was the suffixes. Something like this is far more likely to get to T20 than something that starts off with a couple of low rolled affixes.
This really is the “gear hunt” loop for this game. In a lot of games like D3 or GD, you’re looking for a specific unique or set item to make your build work, but in LE you’re really hunting for those magic/rare items with the affixes you need as a crafting base.
Let’s say I am wearing a T15 ring with the suffixes/affixes I want, but at a lower level which is fractured. That would be the equivalent of wearing a low-rolled unique/set item in other games. A T20 would be that “perfect” roll, by comparison. These have always been rare in any game.
A side note, I also find it a lot easier to get items where the base item’s innate stats are either non-randomized or less important (such as the bronze belt… I’m okay with it only having 87 armor) whereas other items where those stats are key (such as helm/chest a lot of times) I’ll find far fewer craftable base items, so it takes much longer. Essentially this is because instead of you looking for 2-3 workable affixes, the innate properties add in a 4th randomization, which means that RNG is going to be that much higher.
For the reason above, there are some items I typically focus on getting to T18+ first (belt/boots/rings/gloves/relics), and I’ll just have a “serviceable” chest/helm with those stats I really want.
But yea, I have over 450 hours in the game, and around 130 of that is on the current patch, and most of my characters are around mid-80’s and have maybe 1 or 2 T20 pieces, with the rest around T14-16.
